Three hours. Two and a half days. 5 insertion points & 8 bruises on my stomach, (the size of a quarter). A huge bandage on my neck until tomorrow. And a ghastly bruise on my wrist. More physicians and nurses than I could keep track of. I had my own room, nice. To say that I received excellent treatment is an understatement.

My Mom told me that when the surgeon came out to tell her how it went, she was smiling, and a little teary eyed. Everything went perfect. They considered sending me home the day after surgery, but just to be sure, kept me one more night. I left the hospital at about 11 am on the third day.

I am putting all this in because I have a friend who has two family members who are interested in the details.

I have had almost no pain. Very little. The most painful, was my throat, from having the tube put in. But that was gone by the evening. A little soreness. when I woke up, but nothing that required meds. I was on pain medication, but I did not feel the need for more. Later that afternoon, I just felt yucky in my stomach. Just aware of my stomach. Not what I could really call pain. Sort of like stomach cramps. Just enough to make you aware of that body part.

I don’t have stitches and no bandages. So guessing they glued the incisions. I am eating fine. LOL. Slurping is more like it. I can have non-caffeine tea or coffee. I don’t drink coffee without creme and sugar, so tea for me. Clear broth, and sugar-free Jello. The first day I did not really taste, it was bland to be honest. But the second meal, my taste buds were back, and everything actually tasted very good.

I am not craving anything. I am not feeling hungry or deprived. I thought I was going to be eating thimble-sized portions. But they gave me a good sized bowl of broth, A full mug of tea, and a whole Jello cup. Yum! I love Jello.

I can have as much water as I want. They wanted me to drink four bottles before they would release me. I did that by the first night. I got to 11 bottles by the time I left. I told them, I have a 64 oz. bottle that I drink from at home. And I do four or five of those a day. (14 hours). That was one of their main concerns, dehydration. They want you to drink at least 64 oz. a day.

After the Post-Op class (We had one before surgery as well, 3 hours.) I will go to soft foods. Soft cooked veggies, soft fruits, healthy proteins. That will be for 60 days. There is a specific list. But i can have eggs every day if I want. Yum. Oh and no lifting over ten pounds for 8 weeks. I am continuing the meds I take regularly. But I can not take supplements until they clear it. I am guessing that is because they can not be sure of all the ingredients, and the reactions they may cause.

I had to walk about every two hours. To prevent blood clots. One of the women that was doing the charts couldn’t believe how fast I was doing laps. She told her co-worker, “Either she is really fast, or I am really slow at charting.” How funny. But I could tell I was walking faster. The first time a nurse walked with me, and they had me use a walker. But after that, I was fine on my own, even having to drag an O2 tank behind me. WOW! I did four and then five laps. All without struggling to breathe!! NO coughing!!!

I use a Spirometer about ten times an hour. From WebMD: When you empty out and refill the air in your lungs, you get rid of fluid and germs that can lead to an infection. You also exercise your lungs, so that they’re able to put more oxygen into your body. That helps you to heal and avoid lung infections.

I am not getting the marker to 500 (lowest), but I can already feel like I am breathing deeper. When they wanted to listen to my heart, I was actually able to take five or six deep breaths without coughing each time. WOWzers!

I was so happy to wake up and not find myself in ICU. When I had my gall bladder removed, I had complications, due to the Lupus I am sure. I spent two weeks in the hospital, the first was in ICU. Thank you Lord!

I even felt fine enough to run a couple of errands on the way home. (What? Are you serious!) Mom had to drive. I can drive after five days. Not bad at all.

This short video shows the procedure. It is the first one. Roux-en-Y (roo-en-wy) gastric bypass. I did not have staples, mine were hand tied. She removed the top part of my stomach, as it is not working efficiently. The acid from my stomach will never back up into my esophagus again.

This song came to mind on the way home from the hospital. Still more work to be done. But this is one giant step forward. Huge. HUGE.

Saying thank you seems so little an offering. I am so thankful for your prayers, kind words, and good vibes. It all matters. There is power in all of those things. When I woke up I thanked God for taking such good care of me. And I was in tears. And I thought of you, all of you who were thinking of me. Tearing up now. So very grateful.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude
of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
– Albert Schweitzer

“Such lovely warmth of thought
and delicacy of colour are beyond all praise,
and equally beyond all thanks!”
– Marie Corelli